Category: Theology

Graham Scroggie was one of the most influential evangelical preachers and teachers of the first half of the 20th century. Many have regretted, one in print in the year 2000, that ‘there is no published biography of Graham Scroggie, and unlikely ever to be one now’.

When Ian completed his Ph.D. and was invited to lecture part-time on Church History at the Scottish Baptist College, he preferred to give an ‘overview’ of the two thousand years. He also did this three times, for eight weeks at a time, at the Asian Theological College in Manila in the Philippines in 2001 and 2002. He similarly taught students at the Faith Mission Bible College from 2008 to 2012 and at the Edinburgh Bible College from 2013 to 2016, as well as ‘Saturday only’ students at the Institute of Biblical Studies, held at the Carrubbers Christian Centre in Edinburgh, every year from 1995 to 2016.
Now that he is no longer able to deliver these lectures in person, he has been asked to make them available in this format, for any who would like an overview of Western Church History. Read More

As he read various scholarly works for the Ph.D. thesis, if Ian had time and inclination he dictated, in English, some of the German and French works to his secretary in the office, who typed them on interleaved pages and often improved the English as she did so. Here are more of the resulting translated documents. Read More

Background

Greek scholar Archimedes

The exclamation ‘Eureka!’ (‘I have found it!’) is attributed to the ancient Greek scholar Archimedes, after he discovered how the volume of irregular objects could be measured with precision. He had stepped into a bathtub and noted that the rise in the the water level (which could be measured) equalled the volume of the parts of his body he had submerged. A ‘Eureka moment’ now describes finding the answer to a puzzling question. Read More

In one of Shakespeare’s plays, Dick the Butcher and Smith the Weaver are planning how to make the world a better place. “The first thing we do”, says Dick, “let’s kill all the lawyers”. This is taken up enthusiastically by the others, and they make a start by hanging the Town Clerk of Latham.

For the Baptist Union of Scotland 1976 Presidential Address, Ian Balfour expressed his own concern about four lawyers found in the New Testament, whose attitudes have had influence in our Churches. He goes further, warning the reader against taking their advice.

The Peril of Taking a Lawyer’s Advice

As he read various scholarly works for the Ph.D. thesis, if Ian had time and inclination he dictated, in English, some of the German and French works to his secretary in the office, who typed them on interleaved pages and often improved the English as she did so. Here are the resulting translated documents.

During his student days, Ian developed an interest in Church History, and embarked in 1971 on a Doctorate of Philosophy as a part-time post-graduate student at New College, Edinburgh. The thesis was on The Relationship of Man to God in the writings of Tertullian – a second century lawyer who was converted in his thirties and who gave the remainder of his life to teaching in the Church in Carthage. The Ph.D. degree was awarded in 1980.

Tertullian: The relationship of man to God [thesis]

Ian’s interest in Tertullian continued and he has given papers at the International Conference on Patristic Studies, held in Oxford every four years. They have published all the papers that he gave at the Conferences – the first from the 1975 Conference (The fate of the soul in induced abortion in the writings of Tertullian) and the last from the 2003 Conference (Tertullian’s religious beliefs before his conversion). These and others are available for download, below. His paper for the 2015 Conference will be available when published.